Quiet Climate Progress in a Challenging Year

Scanning climate headlines from 2024, it’s easy to see something of a setback year. The UN’s late-October assessment of current national climate action plans concluded they will result in 2030 emissions only 2.6% lower than 2019 – a far cry from the 43% cut needed by 2030. And political leaders looking to scale this back even further are gaining more electoral traction, highlighted by the results of the US presidential elections in November.

An anti-ESG backlash, especially in the US, is also pressuring many companies to rethink climate commitments. And polls tell us most people are now primarily – and understandaby – focused on issues such as affordability, the costs of living, and longer-term financial health and resilience. ?

It’s easy to fixate on these macro-level setbacks. But that hides a lot of encouraging developments happening below the surface, especially here in BC. In fact, much of the work to reverse the climate crisis and build a clean and fair economy that works for everyone seems to be moving from national levels to the provincial/state and municipal levels – and there are wins to be won there, even if sometimes that’s away from the limelight.

For example, this year BC Hydro held a “call for power” for independent private bids to add renewable generating capacity to our power system. Nine projects were chosen, all wind projects, all but one are majority owned by First Nations. Combined they’ll add 5,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually – an 8 per cent boost to our generating capacity, and about the same amount of electricity as Site-C. BC Hydro’s 10-year capital plan, updated in 2024, calls for a $36-billion investment over the next ten years to expand and upgrade the province’s electricity infrastructure, giving homeowners, drivers, and other users, better and cheaper access to our mostly renewables-based electricity.

This isn’t a one-off either. It’s where the market is going worldwide. The latest projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s most reliable experts on global energy market trends, see renewables-based electricity generation overtaking coal-fired generation globally in 2025. Current government plans and actions to drive renewable capacity expansion are on track to surpass governments’ stated policy ambitions by 25 per cent by 2030, according to the IEA. ?

A major factor in this trend is that renewable energy continues to get more affordable, cost-competitive and cost-predictable. Reuters reported in September that over three-quarters of renewable energy capacity added globally in 2023 was cheaper than fossil fuels. In BC, residential electricity rates are second-lowest in North America and commercial and industrial rates are third-lowest. When considered against the 17.5 per cent rate increase the Utilities Commission of BC recently approved for Fortis to cover a variety of infrastructure upgrades, renewable hydro is proving to be both clean and affordable.

Lawmakers and elected officials, especially at the municipal level, are not blind to these market realities. A key climate story in 2024 in BC was municipal councils holding firm on existing timelines for critical initiatives such as increasing step code requirements (Richmond) or removing gas heating from new builds (Vancouver). Others like Burnaby advanced important initiatives to help climate-proof the building of necessary new homes.

These municipal wins – some of which Vancity played an active role in – are particularly important now. Climate-proofing our housing stock is critical, and the Government of Canada has been taking the lead on this in recent years. But the fate of initiatives such as the recently announced Canada Green Buildings Strategy and Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program is not guaranteed in an election year. In this reality, municipalities (and provinces) may well be called on to play a larger role in the effort to reduce emissions from our buildings.

It is also reassuring that climate will continue to be an important priority for the BC government. The cooperation agreement between BC’s NDP and Green parties commits to a deep and thorough review of CleanBC. This provincial climate plan gives our province the right conceptual framework to respond to the climate crisis, but it must drive a transition to an economy that’s not only cleaner but also works and makes life more affordable for everyone. The cooperation agreement’s pledge of $50 million a year to support the rollout of heat pumps to low- and moderate-income households is a good start on this road.

The pledge to support the building or buying of 30,000 units of non-market housing over four years (with a target of 7,500 in 2025) by non-profits, co-ops and charitable societies is also important. We need more of these housing units, but we also need to make sure these units are climate-proofed – something Vancity was recognized for in 2024.

It's easy to get disheartened by the ongoing headlines highlighting setbacks on the road to addressing the climate crisis and building a clean economy that works for everyone. But below this surface – and sometimes away from the spotlight – I see some major reasons to be encouraged and to steel our resolve for 2025.

A happy year to you all.